by S. J. McCoy
They came to a bench that looked out over the river. Ben sat down and held his arms open to her. She sat on his lap and pecked his lips. “What do you want to do tomorrow?”
He grinned and closed his arms around her. “I’m more interested in what I want to do right now.”
She smiled. “And what’s that?”
He tangled his fingers in her hair and brought her face down to his. “Kiss you,” he breathed.
Charlotte pressed her lips against his. She couldn’t think of anything else she’d rather do than get lost in his kisses. He ran his tongue along her bottom lip. Her arms came up around his neck as he flattened his hands against her back and drew her closer. He thrust his tongue into her mouth and she opened up to him, kissing him back hungrily.
Chapter Seven
“Why don’t you take the weekend off?”
Ben jerked his head up to look at his Grandpa Joe.
“Don’t look at me like that. Your girl’s been here almost two weeks now and you’ve been working the whole time.”
Ben shrugged. “Someone’s got to keep the place going. And Charlotte’s been working too.”
“I can keep the place going. You need to go have some fun.”
Ben sighed. Maybe Joe was right. He knew Charlotte was getting antsy. They hadn’t done much of anything fun since she arrived.
Joe grinned. “Roster her off for the weekend and get out of here. The place isn’t going to fall apart.”
“Okay.”
“Here.” Joe pulled out his wallet and took out a wad of bills. “There’s five hundred.”
“I can’t take that.”
Joe’s eyebrows came down. “You can take it now, or wait until I’m dead. If you wait, you’ll be denying me the chance to see my grandson having fun.” His eyes twinkled beneath his bushy brows. “I could croak tomorrow, then you’d feel bad. I’d take it if I were you.”
Ben laughed. He loved Joe. The old guy had pretty much raised him, since his parents weren’t into responsibility. Joe should have retired by now, but with no one willing or able to take over running the resort, he carried on working. Part of Ben’s drive was to see his grandpa retire, and part of it was to make him proud by growing the business and restoring it to its former glory. Joe had stepped back at one point, and Ben’s parents had proceeded to run it into the ground.
Joe waved the money under his nose again. “Take it, or I’ll call Charlotte in here and give it to her with the same instructions I just gave you.”
Ben laughed again. “In that case…” He took the money.
“Good boy. Smart boy, too. Now take the rest of the day off, go find your girl and start planning your weekend.”
“Thanks, Joe.”
Joe nodded. “You deserve it, kid.”
Ben found Charlotte taking her break in the staff room at the back of the restaurant. “Come on,” he said. “Let’s get out of here.”
She looked at him as though he’d gone crazy. “I can’t! I’m only on my break. My shift isn’t over until four.”
He grinned. “It is now. It’s pretty quiet. They can manage.”
She laughed and reached up to place her palm on his forehead. “Are you feeling okay? What’s come over you?”
“I’m feeling great. Joe just told me to take the weekend off, and he’s right. We should. All we’ve done since you got here is work.”
Charlotte was already taking off her apron. “Where is he? I want to kiss him!”
Ben laughed. “You can thank him when we get back.”
“Why? Where are we going?”
“We’ve got the whole weekend. I thought we could just take off and see where the road leads us.”
She flung her arms around his neck. It was so unlike him. He was doing it for her, and they both knew it. “Can we really?”
He nodded. “Yep. Come on.”
After he’d dropped Charlotte off at her grandparents’ place to pack a bag, Ben went home to get his own things together. He was surprised to see his parents sitting at the kitchen table.
“Ben! Now there’s a nice surprise,” said his mom. “We haven’t seen you for days.”
“I’ve been working.”
His dad laughed. “As if you need to tell us that! When do you ever do anything else?”
Weren’t parents supposed to admonish their teenage kids for being slackers? It hurt him that his parents were more into slacking themselves and liked to ridicule him for wanting to work hard, for having goals and trying to achieve them. They made him feel like a failure, which was pretty ridiculous, he knew. He was the one who wanted to build something at the resort, they were the ones who had torn it down! “I’m doing something else this weekend.”
His mom arched an eyebrow. “Really?”
“Yes, really.”
“What are you doing?” asked his dad.
“Taking Charlotte and getting out of here for a few days. I don’t even know where we’re going yet.” He hated himself for adding that last part. Why did he need to tell them that; was he looking for their approval? Was he trying to prove that he wasn’t just a stick-in-the-mud like they thought he was?
“She’s so good for you!”
He blew out a big sigh at his mom’s response. Even if he was seeking their approval in some way, he wasn’t going to get it. Of course they’d think it was Charlotte’s idea to go off and do something spontaneous! He just wasn’t capable of anything like that in their eyes.
“I’m going to pack a bag.”
“How about we all pile in the RV and go together?” asked his dad.
Ben shook his head. No way! He was getting a weekend alone with Charlotte. No way was he going to let his parents invite themselves along.
His mom laughed. “Don’t be silly. They need to go off by themselves.”
Ben was grateful to her for a split second, until she added. “And besides, you promised me we could go and see Bill and Karen this weekend.”
Ben ran upstairs. He should have known his mom wasn’t looking out for his interests—just her own. As always.
Half an hour later he pulled up at Charlotte’s. He took a deep breath before he got out of the car. He needed to clear his head of everything—of his parents, and the way they made him feel, of the resort and everything that needed doing. It’d all still be waiting for him on Monday when they got back. If he was going to leave town, he needed to leave it all behind.
He smiled at the sight of Charlotte’s grandad coming out to meet him.
“I hear you two are taking off for the weekend?”
Ben nodded. “If that’s okay with you?”
Mr. DeWinter laughed. “Of course it is, Ben. You two are about to go off and live together. I can hardly say no to a weekend away.” He put a hand on Ben’s shoulder and smiled kindly. “Not that I’d want to say no anyway. I know you’ll take good care of her.”
Ben nodded. “Always.”
“I know. If anything I’m surprised at you taking the weekend off.”
Ben grinned. “It was Joe’s idea.”
“That sounds more like it.”
“I’m ready!” called Charlotte as she came out to join them. She looked at her grandad, then at Ben. “I hope you’re not letting him talk you out of it?”
“I was actually saying I thought it’d do you both good. Call me, though? Let me know how you’re doing, where you are?”
“You’re an old worry wart,” said Charlotte.
“We will,” said Ben. Charlotte may not appreciate it, but he loved the idea of there being someone back home who cared that they were okay. It wasn’t something he was used to. Well, that wasn’t fair. Joe cared. And it wasn’t like he normally even went anywhere.
Charlotte kissed her grandad’s cheek. “Don’t worry, we’ll be fine.”
“I know. Have a great time. I’ll see you when I see you.”
“And not a minute before!” said Charlotte with a laugh.
~ ~ ~
Charlotte op
ened her eyes the next morning and smiled. She’d finally got what she wanted. Ben’s arm was around her as he slept on. She snuggled against him. She couldn’t wait until every morning would start this way. They’d driven for hours yesterday, and Ben hadn’t told her where they were going. She’d loved it. She’d tried to guess from the road signs where they were headed, but she really didn’t have a clue. He’d brought her to a resort, in the mountains, by a lake! She shouldn’t be surprised. He was stepping out of his comfort zone—but not too far. This place was wonderful. They were in a cabin, surrounded on three sides by trees, so it felt like a secret hideaway. The third side, out front, opened up to an amazing view of the lake. It was perfect.
Ben stirred and looked up at her with a smile.
“Hello, gorgeous.”
“Morning,” he mumbled.
Charlotte got up. “Why don’t you catch up on some sleep? I’m going to have a shower and make us some coffee.” She knew he was up early every single day. It’d do him good to sleep in if he could.
After she’d showered she took her coffee to sit out on the front porch. This place was cute! After a few minutes, Ben came out to join her. He was so handsome. His dark blond hair skimmed his shoulders. His hazel eyes shone as he smiled at her. She let her gaze travel over him. He was perfect!
He sat down beside her and sipped his coffee.
“What do you want to do today?”
“Can we go for a hike?” she asked. “I’ve been reading the leaflets and there’s a trail that starts just behind the cabin.”
He nodded. “Sure.”
“What do you want to do?”
“Go for a hike, like you said.”
“Yes, but what would you do if you were by yourself?”
He shrugged. “I wouldn’t be here by myself.”
That was true. “But if you just had to entertain yourself for the day. What would you do?”
He sipped his coffee while he thought it over then looked up with a smile. “I’d probably go talk to the people at the resort, learn what I could about how they run the place. See if they’re doing anything that might work for us back at the lake.”
She laughed. “You never stop thinking about work, do you?”
He smiled. “I don’t see it as work. It’s my life, my home.” He reached over and took her hand. “And once we’re done with college, it’ll be your life and your home, too.”
Charlotte smiled. She was looking forward to it, but she was glad that it was years away. She loved the lake, loved the resort, and would be happy to make her life and her career there, but she wanted to live a little first. She wanted to go out and see the world.
Ben smiled. He knew how she felt. “Don’t worry, though. We’ll travel, too.”
“And not just to visit other resorts right?”
“No. We can go wherever you want to.”
She smiled.
“Where do you want to go first?”
She had to think about that, there were so many places she wanted to see. “Maybe the Falkland Islands?”
Ben raised an eyebrow. “The Falkland Islands?”
She laughed. “You know, the British islands, just off the coast of Argentina? We fought a war over them. One of my cousins died there. I’d like to go see the place. To try to understand. I’d love to see Argentina, as well, but I don’t think you can travel directly there from the Falklands. We’re still not friends over that whole deal. And that reminds me, I want to see Cuba, too, but you can’t travel directly to there from the States, can you?”
Ben shrugged. “I don’t think so.”
“There are so many places I want to see. I want to go to South Africa and Australia. I want to see India and Nepal. And Kashmir. I want to go there, too.”
Ben raised his eyebrows. “And you don’t mean on a tour bus, do you?”
She laughed. “I do not. I want to go and explore, spend some time.” The look on his face made her laugh. “And you’re already wondering how you can take that much time away from work, right?”
He nodded. “Well, yeah. We need to make the money so that we can do these things.”
“We can backpack. It doesn’t have to cost that much.”
“But when we’re older we won’t want to backpack, we’ll want to stay in nice places, and when we have kids….”
She laughed out loud at that. “That won’t be for years and years yet.”
“But we will have kids, right?”
She cupped his face between her hands and kissed his lips. “How many times do we have to have this conversation? Yes. We will have kids. At some point. We’ll be great parents, because we both know what it’s like to have not so great parents. But we’ll be better parents if we wait until we’re a bit older.”
“How much older?” His eyes were laughing; he was teasing her, but she knew it mattered to him.
She shrugged. “I don’t know, maybe when we’re thirty.”
“Thirty?!”
She laughed at the incredulous expression on his face. “That’s not old to start having kids.”
“Maybe, but it’s twelve years away from now!”
“Well, I told you. We’ve got a lot of traveling to do in that time.”
He shook his head. “Well, let’s start out with the hike we were talking about, huh?”
“I’m ready and waiting. It’s you that’s dawdling around with your coffee.”
He stood up and dropped a kiss on her lips. “Give me ten minutes, and we can go.”
Chapter Eight
Charlotte looked around the cabin one more time. They’d packed everything, nothing was forgotten. Ben was loading up the car. It had been a great weekend. They’d hiked and hung out at the cabin. They’d eaten at the resort and listened to a local band that was playing there. She didn’t want to leave. Well, if she was honest, she didn’t mind leaving so much as she wasn’t ready to go back to the lake yet. She loved it there, but she loved this more. Being out and about, just the two of them. No work to think about, no responsibilities.
“Are you ready?”
“Coming,” she called. She closed the cabin door behind her and got into the passenger seat. She leaned across and kissed Ben’s cheek. “Where shall we go next?”
He laughed. “Home.”
“I don’t want to though. Can’t we just do something crazy and, I don’t know, drive down to Mexico, or something?”
He smiled and kissed her lips. “We can’t. You know this was as close to something crazy as I get.”
She nodded sadly. She did know that, and she loved it about him; he was steady, her rock, he kept her grounded. Much as she liked the idea of flitting around, she knew from bitter experience with her parents that the reality rarely lived up to the fantasy. It didn’t stop her from dreaming, though.
“Maybe once we’re settled at college, we can get one of those cheap airfares and go down to Mexico for a weekend?”
He was such a sweetheart. He did try. She smiled. He didn’t get her desire for spontaneity though. She smiled. “Thanks, Ben.”
It was early evening by the time they got back to the lake. She squeezed his hand as he turned onto Main. “I don’t want to go home yet. I hate the idea of going back to my grandparents and sleeping in that bed without you tonight.”
“I hate the idea, too. This weekend was awesome. That’s how it’s going to be all the time, soon.”
“I know. I just don’t want to have to wait any longer.”
“There’s not a lot we can do about it. We just have to be patient.”
She laughed. “You know full well that patience isn’t my strong suit.”
“I do. But I don’t see that we have any other choice.”
“Can’t we take one of the cabins at the resort?”
He shook his head sadly. “I did think about that, but this is the height of the season. They’re all booked up.”
“All of them? Every night?” She knew she sounded petulant, but she couldn’t help it. Sh
e really hated the idea of spending another night without him.
“Well, there are a couple of nights here and there when there’s one available.”
She nodded sadly. “Would you see if you can save one for us one night?”
“I will. How about we see what the gang are doing tonight?”
“Yeah. Let’s do that.” She perked up as an idea struck her. “Maybe we could all go and hang out at Pete’s cabin? And we could stay there?”
Ben laughed. “Maybe.”
~ ~ ~
Ben felt a little uneasy as he pulled into the driveway to the Hemming place. He’d called ahead and Pete had told him that the others were all coming over tonight. It was nothing out of the ordinary for them all to meet up there in the evening. And it wasn’t unusual for Pete to offer to let Ben and Charlotte stay there when everyone had gone. But Ben had never asked him. Pete just offered. Ben hated the idea of asking. He didn’t want to abuse his friend’s generosity, but he did want to stay with Charlotte. He didn’t like the idea of them each going home to sleep alone any more than she did.
Pete was sitting at the picnic table outside when they pulled up.
“Hey, guys. Did you have a good weekend?” he asked when they got out.
“It was brilliant!” said Charlotte. “The only thing wrong with it was that it had to end.”
Pete grinned at Ben. “But since it did have to end, you’re glad to be home and eager to get back to work, right?”
Ben shrugged. He had wanted to stop at the resort and check on things, but he’d agreed with Charlotte that the weekend wasn’t really over until tomorrow morning. “How about you?”
Pete looked pleased with himself. “You know me. I’ve been working.”
Charlotte laughed. “You two are a pair together! What are you working on, Hemming?”
“Nothing you need to worry your pretty little head about. Just business, planning how I’m going to keep things going once I’m in Austin.”
“Keep what going?” asked Charlotte.
